Ben Goggins/For Savannah Morning News A reception for the "Honoring Our Veterans" exhibit at Hospice Savannah Art Gallery will be Nov. 10. The photos were taken by Dr. Les Wilkes and will be on display through Veterans Day.

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Kids say the dearest things. Back in December 2010 as my wife and I walked down the Forsyth Park sidewalk after Hospice Savannah’s Tree of Light ceremony, we came upon two couples who were like moving beacons.

Each father had his daughter on his shoulders, and the two girls were happily singing “This Little Light of Mine” while they held their candles high over their heads. We told them what a sweet song it was.

One girl, Isabella, said, “My Granny taught it to us, and we want her and all her friends in the stars to hear it and see our candles.” Her friend, Alyssa, referring to the closing part of the program where the audience lights one another’s candles, said, “It was like the lightning bugs in my back yard all telling each other a secret.”

Isabella’s mom said that her mother had passed away the year before.

“This is our second year coming, and it feels good to be here with so many other people. Everyone remembering those they have lost. It means a lot to me to see my mother’s name projected on the screen and to see her name in the program.”

Alyssa’s dad said that they came to support their friends.

“We want them to know they are not alone. It’s moving for us to see the community gather for a thoughtful night.”

The Tree of Light is always held on the first Sunday of December. I think that it is especially good that this year it falls on Thanksgiving weekend. Family members from out of town can come and share in the simple and touching program, remembering these who made such a difference at past Thanksgiving tables.

Last year there was a great bagpipe player. This year harpist Leslie Adair will perform. I have heard her in the hallways of St. Joseph’s and Candler playing some wonderful classical and Celtic pieces and my mother’s favorite, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

And baritone Roger Moss, artistic director of the Savannah Children’s Choir, will sing twice. First, the touching “Wheels of a Dream,” capturing the joy of a father looking at his newborn son. And second, one of my father’s favorites from his WWII days as a teenage Sea Bee in the Pacific, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”

He would also really relate to the “Honoring Our Veterans” exhibit now at Hospice House. The walls there are hung with pictures of patients taken by Hospice family photographer Dr. Les Wilkes. They are on display through Veterans Day, and there is a closing reception this Sunday afternoon.

In the Hospice House courtyard stands a bronze monument to Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Roy Strickland and other veteran patients. It is a tranquil setting, next to a turtle pond and fountain, surrounded by bird feeders. It fits with Dr. Wilkes’ statement, “We are branches of support; branches of the service are like branches of a tree.”

Under the oaks in Forsyth Park, framed against the bandshell, the Tree of Light ceremony is a simple, annual community tradition. It happens at dusk, and that fits with the first line of the Litany of Remembering. “In the rising of the sun and in its going down, We remember them.”

The reading of the names of loved ones, followed by the gentle chime of a bell, is a deep and soothing ritual. Good for the soul.

Hospice Bereavement counselor Betsy Kammerud says it well.

“We endeavor to create a memorial service that is as ecumenical and culturally inclusive as possible. At the end of this service, we will all have lit a candle in honor of our loved one. In our shared grief, we connect through that light and we become the Tree.

“We are the branches that connect to a communal source of support and, in doing so, no one has to go through this journey alone. And so, there is always a ‘Tree of Light’ to come to and take shelter under when the going gets rough.”

Ben Goggins, a retired marine biologist, lives on Tybee Island. He can be reached at 786-6181 or bengoggins9@gmail.com.

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